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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 124 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  2. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  3. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  4. How do you ________________ your surname?
  5. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  6. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  7. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  8. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  9. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  10. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  11. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  12. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  13. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  14. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  15. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  16. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  17. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  18. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  19. When are we going to ________________?
  20. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  21. The ________________ went through the wall.
  22. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  23. He was locked up in a ________________.
  24. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. lash — to lash out
  2. bat — the animal
  3. nail — for a hammer
  4. spell — letters
  5. land — a country
  6. hide — to keep secret
  7. hide — to keep secret
  8. land — ground
  9. spell — a short time
  10. cell — a phone
  11. spell — magic
  12. pit — a hole
  13. cell — in biology
  14. lash — a whip stroke
  15. nail — on a finger
  16. pit — a fruit stone
  17. bat — for baseball
  18. lash — an eyelash
  19. land — to come down
  20. pit — in a race
  21. nail — for a hammer
  22. hide — animal skin
  23. cell — in a prison
  24. bat — in an idiom

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com